No two bailouts are exactly the same. And when it comes comparing the savings and loan era Resolution Trust Corp. to the $700 billion banking industry rescue now before Congress, there is one difference that really stands out. Back in the stone age of 1988, when we were merely trying to take care of regional Read More →

Wine goes back to biblical times, but today’s wineries are digging into the chemical properties and hi-tech tools of the future to transform their wine into precisely calculated products. Hundreds of wineries large and small across the Tri-Counties have been turning to two regional wine lab companies, Baker Wine & Grape Analysis and Vinquiry, to Read More →

The 2009 Goleta Economic Forecast covered some hot topics for the young city, including impacts of the oil industry, controversial incorporation issues and major commercial development projects. University of California, Santa Barbara, Economic Forecast Project Executive Director Bill Watkins said Goleta’s economy will continue to grow slowly, estimating a 1.3 percent increase in gross city Read More →

Consider if you will, the “reform” that took place in Medicare rules a few years ago. Under these new rules, the government gets to “look back” five years to an elderly person’s earnings and asset transfers when mom or dad goes into a nursing home. The government can take those assets in case of a Read More →

Nordstrom, the golden child at The Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks, celebrated its grand opening Sept. 5, representing the culmination of extensive remodeling, redevelopment and planning to secure the 30-year-old mall’s status as a top regional lifestyle shopping destination. More than two years after The Oaks shopping center developer Macerich – also responsible for Read More →

There is a difference between making up the rules and actually having to follow them. When it comes to the government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we are all about to find out how expensive following the rules is going to be. Fannie and Freddie’s nationalization by the Treasury Department on Sept. 7 Read More →

Since the mortgage crisis spawned the downturn in the residential market, regional experts have said the Central Coast communities are largely sheltered from – though not immune to – national economic trends. Indeed, the Tri-Counties have been affected accordingly by the housing slowdown. Some cities have shown relatively minor price reductions and sales slumps while Read More →